Doping Claims Roil Cycling

Landis Details Drug Use by Himself and Others; Armstrong Charges Harassment

By

Reed Albergotti And

Vanessa O'Connell

Updated May 21, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

The confessions of doping by cyclist Floyd Landis and his allegations against Lance Armstrong and others rocked the sport Thursday, with Mr. Armstrong disparaging the charges and accusing Mr. Landis of harassing and threatening him for years.

Mr. Armstrong then hopped on his bike for a stage of the Tour of California race, crashed on a two-lane road outside Visalia, Calif., abandoned the race and received stitches.

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Mr. Armstrong rides alongside Mr. Landis during a rest day of the 90th Tour de France in July 2003. AFP/Getty Images

Mr. Landis, whose 2006 Tour De France victory was nullified after a positive drug test, recently sent a series of emails to cycling officials detailing his systematic use of banned performance-enhancing measures after years of public denials. He also claimed that other riders and cycling officials participated in doping, including seven-time Tour de France winner Mr. Armstrong. Three emails, dated from April 30 to May 6, have been reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Speaking to reporters before Thursday's stage of the Tour of California cycling race, Mr. Armstrong said he wasn't surprised by the claims Mr. Landis made. He characterized Mr. Landis, his former teammate, as someone who had been harassing and threatening him and his current team members for a couple of years.

Mr. Armstrong said Mr. Landis began sending more emails and texts about a month ago, after Mr. Landis wasn't invited to participate in the California race.

"At the end of the day, he pointed a finger at everybody who is still involved in cycling, everybody who is still enjoying this sport, and everybody who still believes in it," Mr. Armstrong said. "We have nothing to hide."

Mr. Armstrong wouldn't discuss specific details of the allegations Mr. Landis made. "They're not even worth getting into," he said. "I'm not going to waste your time or my time. I think history speaks for itself here."

ENLARGE

Asked whether he would tell the truth to federal prosecutors, Mr. Armstrong responded "absolutely" but provided no details about such conversations.

Two people who have spoken with Mr. Landis said the cyclist was cooperating with the Food and Drug Administration's criminal investigations unit, which they said was looking into Mr. Landis's allegations.

These people said Thursday that Mr. Landis had met with FDA special agent Jeff Novitzky. Mr. Novitzky, a former Internal Revenue Service special agent, is best known as the lead investigator in the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative case. That case resulted in a plea deal with the lab's owner, Victor Conte, on conspiracy and money-laundering charges, a prison sentence for gold medal-winning sprinter Marion Jones and an indictment of home-run champion Barry Bonds. Mr. Bonds is awaiting trial on federal perjury charges, which he denies.

An Uphill Ride

Floyd Landis, age 34, the American cyclist whose 2006 Tour de France victory was nullified after a positive doping test, sent a series of emails to cycling officials admitting to his systematic use of performance-enhancing measures during his career and implicating other professional cyclists. View chart

Mr. Novitzky declined to comment. An FDA spokeswoman said she couldn't confirm or deny the existence of any investigation. Mr. Landis didn't respond to email messages seeking comment.

One of the people who has spoken to Mr. Landis said the cyclist had planned to make his allegations at a press conference in Los Angeles on Saturday during the crucial time-trail stage of the Tour of California. This person said federal investigators with whom Mr. Landis was cooperating urged him not to make any public statements out of concern that it would complicate their efforts to collect information and that they would have had trouble insuring Mr. Landis's safety at a crowded public event.

In an email Mr. Landis sent on April 30 to USA Cycling president Steve Johnson, Mr. Landis wrote that he and then-teammate George Hincapie ingested olive oil with dissolved andriol, a form of ingestible testosterone, while competing in the 2003 Tour de France. Mr. Landis also said that ahead of the race, he had two half-liter units of blood extracted from his body to be used during the Tour de France. Such transfusions, banned in cycling, can boost oxygen-toting red-blood cells.

The extraction, Mr. Landis claimed, took place in Mr. Armstrong's apartment, where blood bags belonging to Mr. Armstrong and his then-teammate George Hincapie were kept in a refrigerator in Mr. Armstrong's closet.

Mr. Hincapie, through a spokesman, denied the allegations.

Mr. Landis also sent at least one email directly to Mr. Armstrong. In the May 6 email, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Landis alluded to statements Mr. Armstrong allegedly made in which Mr. Armstrong claimed he had "sources inside the antidoping agencies who inform you of goings on."

It's unclear how many emails Mr. Landis sent. He copied seven people on the three emails reviewed by the Journal, including officials with USA Cycling and the International Cycling Union.

Andrew Messick, the president of Tour of California organizer AEG Sports, said that Mr. Landis had sent email messages about doping to those in the cycling world for several weeks, and that he became aware of Mr. Landis's allegations in early April. Mr. Messick wouldn't discuss the emails' contents but said as soon as he learned of Mr. Landis's allegations, he contacted United States Anti-Doping Association chief executive Travis Tygart.

Mr. Messick said he then sent Mr. Landis's phone number to Mr. Tygart after Mr. Landis asked to speak to USADA. He said he didn't know if Messrs. Landis and Tygart spoke. "When you learn about a crime, or an alleged crime, you call the police. And that's what I did," Mr. Messick said.

Mr. Messick noted that Mr. Landis and his team weren't invited to compete in the Tour of California.

RadioShack Corp., the lead sponsor of Mr. Armstrong's cycling team, has been featuring the cyclist in television advertisements.

"The allegations reported today are unsubstantiated, and we don't intend to discuss the issue," RadioShack spokesman Eric Bruner said in an email.

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